


Coincidence

by thequadraticformula



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-23
Updated: 2020-01-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22367470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequadraticformula/pseuds/thequadraticformula
Summary: Jihyo doesn't give a damn about fate... but meeting Nayeon and Jeongyeon... becoming friends... that couldn't have been a coincidence.Soulmates come in many shapes and sizes, genders and races... it turns out they come in numbers too.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Kang Daniel/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Kudos: 46





	Coincidence

**Author's Note:**

> This work is crossposted on Wattpad and Asianfanfics under the user 'thequadraticformula'.  
> DO NOT REPOST THIS WORK.

Jihyo met Jeongyeon and Nayeon when she transferred schools during her first year of senior high school. Their meeting seemed almost impossible. They were all in different years and Jihyo was highly introverted. She was almost half expecting herself to graduate three years later with no friends at all when taking into account her inability to speak to anyone without stuttering and spluttering.

But Jihyo was taken by surprise during the school's routine sports event for that year. Jihyo's first at that school. She had never been a fan of sports, but of course there was a requirement for students to complete at least three track events to count the day as a participation. So, mustering up her strength and lack of fitness, Jihyo found herself trudging down the field to the marshalling area for the 100-metre sprint.

There were a lot of people from her year participating in the girl's race. Jihyo didn't like crowds very much, so she kept to the back of the group away from the swarms of fifteen-year-olds, so she didn't have to risk talking to them. The teachers and officials were organising the students into heats. There seemed to be a fair few. Maybe four full heats of eight girls before the officials reached Jihyo.

"Oh." One of the official's looked at Jihyo awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Looks like you're going to be in a heat on your own."

His words shot fear directly into Jihyo's heart. Alone? Running in front of that stadium... alone? Jihyo's dislike of being the centre of attention far surpassed her hate of crowds. This was the worst possible outcome.

The official turned to the marshalling table.

"This one's on her own for the last heat." There was muttering and shuffling of pages before one of the women with the papers waved him over.

What was going on now? Jihyo's legs were shaking. How was she supposed to run without falling over? What if she did fall over? In front of all those people... it would be mortifying! The rest of her time in high school would be hell! She would be known as the girl running alone who tripped over her own two feet! She wanted to cry.

"Never mind!" The man called Jihyo over to the marshalling tent where two other girls she had never seen before were standing. They looked like they were having an intense argument. "The sixteen and seventeen age groups are pulling a prank today it seems." He laughed. "There's only one from each age group competing, so you can just run with them!"

Jihyo's stomach dropped to the floor.

"Yah! As if you're faster than me!" Her eyes were immediately pulled to the two girls that must be the lone sixteen and seventeen-year-olds. Their faces were red, and both had their fists clenched as if they were about to start a fist fight right then and there.

"I am! I'm taller! I have longer legs than you! It's only logical!" The girl with hair that was cut just below her jaw yelled, her voice almost breaking.

"Being tall is not related to being fast!" The other girl cried. Her hair was tied in lop sided pig tails. Jihyo wasn't sure if that hairstyle was serious or not. "I'll trip you over before you can even get up to speed. BET."

"I'll just pull your ugly hair and yank you back behind me. BET you BITCH."

The girl with the pigtails gasped dramatically.

"How dare you call me that YOO JEONGYEON! I'LL KILL YOU."

"Enough!" The official cried. He looked half mad, half like he was about to die holding in a laugh. Jihyo was just confused. "You guys are up. Use the three end lanes please. One, two and three."

The three girls made their way to the track. There was a roar of outrage from the crowd as the race was announced.

"This is a special heat with three girls of three different ages thanks to the sixteen and seventeen age groups. Congratulations! You get to clean up the whole school while everyone else goes home!"

"Better not include us." The girl with the pigtails grumbled. She had taken lane two, leaving Jihyo to take lane one and the girl called Yoo Jeongyeon to take number three.

"Who cares! I'm gonna beat you and that's all that matters." Jeongyeon declared, stretching her legs for an emphasis to her point. "I bet my lunch that I'll win."

"Oh, you're on." The pigtail girl smirked.

Jihyo was glad that they were ignoring her. That meant she didn't have to make small talk why they waited for the gun to go off.

"On your marks.... Get set..." There was a slight pause in which Jihyo braced herself for the bang of the gun.

BANG.

Jihyo's legs were already off and running when she heard pigtail girl screech in fright at the noise. She didn't know how far or close the other two girls were and she supposed it didn't matter. She would be getting a first-place heat ribbon anyway. She was the only one in her age group.

She didn't think she ran particularly fast or anything, but the race was over within seconds. Turning back to see where her strange competitors were at, Jihyo was surprised to see Jeongyeon and Nayeon skipping at a leisurely pace hand and hand. The crowd was going crazy by the time the two crossed the finish line.

They collapsed to the floor in giggles as they reached Jihyo. They pulled each other into a hug and then looked up at Jihyo who had most likely been staring at them quite rudely for an extended amount of time.

"Hey! You ran really fast!" Jeongyeon said, untangling herself from the girl with pigtails and standing up. She neglected the other girl's hand, causing her to grumble slightly as she stood up also. "I was secretly betting that you would win."

"I could have won." The pigtail girl frowned. "I was just startled by the gun."

"Yeah whatever." Jeongyeon rolled her eyes and then held out her hand to the stunned Jihyo who could only stare at the two girls.

"My name's Yoo Jeongyeon. I'm sixteen. I haven't seen you around before. Are you a transfer student?" Jihyo took her hand and bowed slightly.

"I'm Park Jihyo. Yes. I started just this year." She mumbled. She could already feel her face turning pink. It was only a matter of time before they started laughing at her.

"Aww she's cute Jeongie." Pigtail girl crooned. "Can we keep her?"

"What the fuck?" Jeongyeon rolled her eyes and jabbed a thumb in her direction. "This crazy person is Im Nayeon. She's seventeen going on three."

"Yah!" Nayeon slapped Jeongyeon's shoulder and then proceeded to pull out her misshapen pigtails, replacing it with a neat ponytail at the base of her skull. She certainly was very pretty without that crazy hair.

"Anyway," She said, glaring at Jeongyeon who looked as if she were about to burst into laughter. "I'm going to adopt you Park Jihyo. You don't have a choice."

"You're creeping her out! Look! She's not saying anything!" Jeongyeon shoved Nayeon to the side and took Jihyo by the hand. "Don't listen to her. Maybe even just ignore her existence. She's not helping anyone by existing."

Nayeon pretended to cry a Jeongyeon led a flabbergasted Jihyo to the stands.

And that's how it began.

***

Now, Jihyo didn't believe in fate, so it must have been a coincidence that life just got a million times better after she became friends with Jeongyeon and was 'adopted' by Nayeon. She didn't feel lonely anymore. She felt loved and accepted. Both of the girls would dote on her in every way possible. Jihyo would never say it out loud, but she loved being the group's official baby.

This meant she could indulge in her introverted ways without seeming like a creep and also learn to be more confident. Nayeon and Jeongyeon would always order her food for her from the canteen and talk for her whenever a classmate came looking for her. They would also force her to participate in crazy weekend escapades to the shopping centres to try on weird clothes and made her join the singing club and choir after they accidentally caught Jihyo singing to one of her favourite songs.

They were the best, and only friends, that Jihyo had ever had.

But of course, friendships are a package deal. You get the good with the bad. You get the fun times with the not so fun times. And so, Jihyo learnt this the hard way the year that Nayeon was due to graduate.

There was a talent show that was being held at the end of the year and Jihyo had finally plucked up the courage to step outside her comfort zone and try out. She didn't want the hype, so she had kept it from Jeongyeon and Nayeon.

Until she accidentally met them in the line.

"Holy shit!" Jeongyeon jumped in her place and grabbed Nayeon's hand, causing the whole entire line to the audition room to stare back. Jihyo flinched and Nayeon's face remained neutral. "You're auditioning? Oh my God! I can't believe it! I'm so proud of you, Jihyo-yah!"

Jihyo wanted to smile at Jeongyeon, but Nayeon's expression was murderous. She said nothing, which in Jihyo's opinion was worse than her saying anything at all. Nayeon was always talking. Constantly. To the point where it became highly irritating. So, to see her so visibly angered and not saying a thing made Jihyo uneasy.

Jeongyeon paused her happy freak out, noticing the mood and the tension between her two friends.

"Um... what's wrong?" She glanced at Jihyo. She just shrugged in response.

"Seriously?" Nayeon threw her arms into the air. "Are you seriously auditioning?"

"What do you mean?" Jihyo asked, unsure how to feel about her expression. Her eyes were narrowed, and her jaw was clenched.

"This is my last year at this godforsaken school and you want to ruin me now?"

"Ruin?" Jihyo didn't get where she was coming from. Jeongyeon didn't either. She kept her mouth shut, unsure of if she should interfere.

"Yes ruin." Nayeon spat. "Just because you can sing too, doesn't mean you have to take away all my opportunities."

"What?" Jihyo thought she might be catching on now. It made her want to laugh, but she held it in. "I haven't ever auditioned for something until today."

"I don't care." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're gonna make me look like a fool out there."

It was Jeongyeon who laughed first which earned her a smack from Nayeon.

"BITCH."

"Nayeon," Jeongyeon tried to speak through laughs. "You're the bitch! You're crazy!"

"I'm going to take this as a compliment." Jihyo said, joining in with Jeongyeon. Her stomach was hurting. "I... I refuse to back down!" She pointed her finger, so it was in line with Nayeon's nose.

"You're. Fucking. On." She turned around with a huff, stamping her foot on the ground in frustration. Jeongyeon grimaced and leaned in to Jihyo to whisper.

"It's gonna break her when you get in and she doesn't."

Jihyo wasn't sure if that was Jeongyeon trying to encourage her to kick Nayeon off her high horse and give it a shot, or if she was subtly hinting that maybe she should just let Nayeon have it. But before she could clarify, Jeongyeon had walked away.

This left Jihyo with a dilemma.

She stared at her best friend's back as she stood stiffly in front of her in the line. She thought about what would happen if she just walked away. Let Nayeon have her shot without interfering. But she didn't.

Because if she walked away now, she would never sing again.

Sure enough, when the results of the auditions came out the next week, Jihyo was in, Nayeon was out. Nayeon ignored her immediately. Jihyo let it slide, but she was secretly very hurt that her closest friend wasn't supportive of her finally stepping outside of her comfort zone.

Nayeon was silent until the day of the performance.

Jihyo had spent weeks and weeks practicing a song with only Jeongyeon in the room to help her.

It was lonely.

"You're going to do great." Jeongyeon held her hand backstage. She had promised not to let go until the last second. Jihyo was grateful. She needed Jeongyeon's touch to ground her. She couldn't stop worrying about what would happen after the performance was over. Would Nayeon still ignore her? Would they never be friends ever again?

Jihyo accidentally let her inner monologue spill from her lips in her nervousness.

"Does Nayeon hate me?" Her voice was so pathetically small and shaky that Jeongyeon just about burst into tears at the sound of it. But she held herself together – being the ever stone hearted girl she was, she had to keep up her reputation – and squeezed Jihyo's hand.

"She's jealous and prideful. She never hated you." Jeongyeon spoke softly, but Jihyo still felt tears pricking the back of her eyes. This was not helpful. Her makeup was going to run!

"I miss her." Jihyo admitted. She really missed Nayeon. She missed her so much. She didn't care if she came back yelling and screaming about how much Jihyo had ruined her life and her last year of school. She just wanted to see her and hear her voice.

"I miss you too." Jihyo immediately turned. It was Nayeon.

Everything, the hate, the song, the stage, her makeup... it was all forgotten. Jihyo flung herself into Nayeon's arms and cried. Nayeon was crying too. Jihyo could feel her tears against her neck, but she didn't care. All she cared about was her arms around her.

"Just so you know, Nayeon," Jeongyeon said. "You are the worst human alive."

For once, Nayeon didn't rebuke. She pulled Jihyo closer to her body and nodded.

"I know."

Jihyo didn't need to hear an apology. She didn't want to hear one. This was enough. Her arms were enough. Her being here was enough.

"Miss Park. You're up in three minutes." A woman holding a clipboard awkwardly interrupted the moment. Nayeon and Jihyo pulled away from what must have been the longest hug they had ever shared with anyone in their life.

"Shit! Your makeup's running!" Nayeon cried, her face crumpling in guilt. "This is all my fault."

Jihyo just laughed as Jeongyeon put her arm around the older girl's shoulders.

"It really is."

She walked on that stage by herself. For the first time, she didn't feel targeted and vulnerable standing there, the centre of attention. She was fearless. She didn't care that her makeup was smudged or when her voice made the occasional blunder. None of that matters when you have two best friends that you know will catch you if you fall.

***

What a coincidence. All this talk about catching you when you fall turned out to apply to Jihyo's story with Nayeon and Jeongyeon. After Jihyo graduated, they dropped a massive bomb on her.

"Um... we have something we've been meaning to tell you." Jeongyeon started. It was kind of odd for Jeongyeon to start what sounded like a deep and meaningful conversation, considering she never really liked to share her feelings with Jihyo nor Nayeon. It was even weirder when considering that they were out on a lunch date in a restaurant with a million people that could be listening in. What caught Jihyo off guard the most was the use of the word 'we'.

"What do you mean 'we'?" She asked, placing down her chopsticks and looking directly at Jeongyeon. Her eyes wavered slightly.

"Jesus. Don't look at me like that." She mumbled, looking away.

"She means us. Jeongyeon and I." Nayeon butted in. Her expression was just as shifty as Jeongyeon's. It was making Jihyo nervous.

"You've been keeping things from me?" She frowned, causing both girls to cower away slightly. They had always been secretly afraid of Jihyo's harsh stares. She could be really scary when she wanted to be.

"Sort of..." Jeongyeon was looking anywhere but at Jihyo and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Spit it out then!"

"We're d-dating." Nayeon stuttered.

_Jeongyeon and Nayeon caught each other._

Jihyo paused for a moment, letting the information sink in. This made sense. Of course, this had happened. This made total sense.

"How long?" Jihyo spoke quietly. She was realising now why Nayeon and Jeongyeon had dragged her out to this fancy restaurant in the middle of the week. It was a pacifier.

"Not long." Jihyo had never heard Jeongyeon's voice higher and smaller than it was when saying those two words.

"A month." Nayeon stated, keeping her eyes on the food in front of her.

A month. Jihyo tried to think back to the times during this said month where it might have been obvious that her two best friends had been dating. Yes, she'd noticed the touches. The little brushes of their hands that they tried to make seem unintentional. Of course, she'd noticed that they always sat just that little bit too close to one another. And there was also that one time she had walked out of the bathroom in Jeongyeon's house to find them in a... strange position. But none of that was... love... right? It was just best friends being best friends. Right?

Jihyo was wrong. She knew that.

"You're not homophobic, are you?" Jeongyeon's falsetto voice squeaked.

"Don't insult me." Jihyo replied.

"So, you're ok with it?" Nayeon and Jeongyeon were looking at her expectantly. Jihyo saw that their hands were intertwined, their knuckles white. They were nervous.

"What sort of a question is that?" Jihyo forced a laugh. "You're asking me like I'm some sort of disapproving parent. I'm not in control of your love lives."

The emotions around the table shifted. It was almost visible to Jihyo. A flow from nervousness to happiness and joy. The subtle expression changes of both her friends told her that they were relieved.

"We were just worried... about what you would think." Nayeon spoke carefully. Jihyo tensed up.

They were worried about what _she_ would think. What did she think?

"What did you think I would say? That you're not allowed to date? Are you both idiots?" Jihyo kept her tone light and her expression teasing. Her heart was sinking lower and lower into the floor as the seconds passed.

"So, you're not... mad?" Jeongyeon's voice had returned to its usual pitch and she sat up in her chair.

Was she mad? _Was she mad?_

"As if. You're both stupid." Jihyo forced another laugh. _Could they see through her?_ "I'm happy for you. It was about time anyway." _Was it about time?_ Jihyo didn't know. It just seemed like the right thing to say.

"I'm relieved." Jeongyeon let out an audible sigh, her hand moving to clutch her shirt over where her heart was. "You don't know how nervous we were to tell you."

Jihyo felt like crying for some reason. But she didn't.

"Just don't have sex in front of me and we're good." Jihyo joked. The girls laughed, looking at each other with flushed expressions, their hands still clasped together. It wasn't funny to her.

After Nayeon and Jeongyeon's revelation, the dynamics of their friendship seemed to shift. It wasn't subtle. It was sharp and sudden and Jihyo hated it.

Meeting each other after university classes was still their routine. The three of them walking to the shopping mall and scouting out the food hall, all sitting together on a table meant for two, their knees touching and their elbows bumping against each other as they ate and talked about their day.

Jihyo used to love this part of her day.

Now she felt like an intruder of some sort. Nayeon and Jeongyeon would kiss when they met up. A peck on the mouth. That's all it was, but Jihyo found herself fuming at it. Then they would hold hands all the way to the food hall and when they sat down, they would dote on each other so much that Jihyo felt like throwing up. They eye fucking was REAL.

Jihyo didn't talk much anymore... simply because she didn't know what to say. She was worried that she might be interrupting a moment between the two. It had happened before. Them, leaving a lunch date or meet up early with that look in their eye like they wanted to be alone. She was even scared to even text on their group chat. It had gone pretty much silent since they had started dating. Jihyo wasn't good at holding or starting conversations, so she never seemed to be able to bring it back to life.

Jihyo turned into a third wheel. A loose one at that.

***

Coincidentally, Jihyo was saved soon after the news of her best friend's relationship. While Nayeon and Jeongyeon weren't available to catch her, a boy by the name of Kang Daniel swooped in to do it for them.

He was a full-time worker at the girl's favourite restaurant. He must have seen them come in a lot because one day on their usual lunch dates, he walked up to Jihyo.

"Um... Hi." He started. Jeongyeon sniggered, knowing full well what was running through the boy's mind. "I know this is ridiculously unprofessional, but I think you look really pretty."

Jihyo felt a smile creeping onto her features. Nobody had ever said that to her before. Not one single person. Not even Jeong and Nayeon. People had complimented her for her voice, but never for her looks.

"Thank you?" Jihyo's voice was unstable. Her eyes flicked down to his name badge. _Daniel_. Cute.

They stared at each other for a few more seconds before Daniel chickened out and bowed, walking back to his place behind the counter.

"Well, well, well." Jeongyeon sneered. The look on her face was horrific. The biggest smirk Jihyo had ever seen. "Seems like someone's had their eye on you."

Jihyo didn't know how to feel about that.

"Ask for his number before we leave." Nayeon suggested. "He's good looking too. Snatch him up before I take him." Her eyes trailed over Daniel who was looking at Jihyo from behind the counter.

"Do you fucking know who I am?" Jeongyeon playfully slapped her shoulder and they dissolved into giggles, ending it with a light kiss on the lips that made Jihyo's stomach churn.

She turned around, locking eyes with Daniel. He was good looking, she guessed. He seemed like the sweetest person in the universe, and he was definitely interested in her... so why wouldn't she just jump at the opportunity?

She turned around to face her friends again. They were playing with each other's hands. Like she didn't exist.

Jihyo was just the loose third wheel. It was only a matter of time before the bolts became so loose that she fell off.

Then she had an idea. A brilliant idea.

She stood up.

"Hey! What's going on?" Jeongyeon turned to see Jihyo walking toward the counter. Directly over to where Daniel, the waiter, was. "Holy shit. Nayeon," She tapped her girlfriend on the shoulder. "Look. At. That."

Both girls watched intensely as the interaction between the boy and their best friend seemed to intensify. They both laughed about something before Jihyo pulled her phone from her back pocket and typed something up. They both knew what it was.

"My baby Jihyo." Nayeon's voice was wobbly. She wiped a fake tear from her eye. "She's all grown up and going after boys already. I feel so old."

"You're not her mother, bimbo." Jeongyeon frowned. "But it sure is great to see her taking the steps all on her own."

Jihyo had unscrewed herself. She had fallen off.

Daniel caught her.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were walking alone, hand in hand along the streets of the city. It had been about a year since they had started dating. About four months since Jihyo had started dating Kang Daniel.

The group chat was barren. Neither Jeongyeon nor Nayeon knew how to strike up a conversation. They hadn't met up in a long while... maybe not since Daniel had appeared. It had just been them. No Jihyo. They didn't even know how her, and Daniel's relationship was going. They didn't even know how her classes in university were going.

They didn't even bring up the subject of their best friend – could they call her that anymore? – anymore with each other. They both never knew what to say except: _I miss her_.

Because they both missed her like crazy. More than they could ever express with words.

They missed her laugh and smile and her grossed-out look when they kissed and her hugs and her singing and... everything. They missed everything about her, and it was tearing them up inside.

Nayeon couldn't get Jihyo off her mind. Today especially. Because today was the day of the talent show. The one where Jihyo had sang on her own in front of the entire secondary school. It was a stupid day to remember, but she remembered it regardless. Every year she remembered.

She remembered how stupid she had been. She remembered ignoring her for most of that year. She remembered feeling more guilty and horrible than she had ever felt in her life. She remembered finally deciding to get off her high horse and apologise. She remembered Jihyo's expression when she had shown up to apologise backstage before her performance. She remembered what it felt like to be wrapped so tightly in her arms.

"Why are you crying?" Jeongyeon stopped walking to face Nayeon, reaching to wipe her tears away gently with her thumb across her cheek.

Jeongyeon knew why she was crying. _I miss her too_.

All of a sudden, Jeongyeon's phone began to ring. She gave Nayeon a swift peck on the cheek before pulling it from her back pocket. Her stomach dropped and her heart raced. She put the phone to her ear.

_T_ _his has got to be a coincidence._

"Jihyo-yah?" She spoke softly. Nayeon's face dissolved into a sob, but all Jeongyeon could hear was the crying on the other end of the line. "Jihyo what's going on?" Jeongyeon would have reached through the phone if she could.

"Can... y-you c-come get me?" The sound of Jihyo's voice was so broken, that stone face Jeongyeon couldn't help but shed a tear.

"Where are you?" She forced her voice to remain stable. She would do it for Jihyo.

"The park."

She knew the one.

"I'll be right there." She hung up.

"Let's go." She snatched up the sobbing Nayeon's hand and ran.

She ran as fast as her legs would allow. She wondered if she would ever run faster than Jihyo had that day that they had met. Maybe she'd always been running just that little bit too fast for them to catch up. Maybe... maybe she should have tried a little harder.

They saw her. On a park bench. Her body was hunched over. She was trembling slightly. They both knew it was because she was crying.

They didn't say anything. They simply sat beside her. Nayeon on the left, Jeongyeon on the right. They pulled Jihyo close, so she was between them. Her head rested on Nayeon's shoulder like it had the day of the talent show. Jeongyeon wrapped her arms around her waist and lay against her back.

Jihyo felt whole again. She felt real again. She felt like life was worth living again as she was held in between her two best friends. She liked how her head fit in the crook of Nayeon's neck like it was made to be there. She liked the pressure of Jeongyeon's body weight on her back as she leaned there.

The truth was, Daniel didn't catch Jihyo as she unscrewed her loose third wheel from her best friend's relationship. It was Jihyo who was holding tightly to the hem of his shirt, knowing full well that he wasn't what she wanted.

She had been stupid. Naïve. Selfish.

They sat together in each other's arms for a long time. Long enough to realise that her third wheel had never been loose at all. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were her best friends. She didn't need anyone else.

They had already caught her.

"I –" Jihyo started but was cut off.

"Shut up and let us hold you." Jeongyeon growled against her back.

Jihyo felt warm. She felt so much better.

It wasn't a coincidence that her best friends had come for her when she needed them most. No questions asked. Nothing about meeting them and everything in between had ever been a coincidence.

_I love you._

That's what Jihyo said to them through her hug.

Nayeon stroked her hair and Jeongyeon squeezed her a little tighter.

Jihyo didn't want to be anywhere else in the world.


End file.
